I am applying for uchicago, and i want to apply economics major, but im worried it will be very competitive since chicago ranks top in economics nationally. Should i apply for a different major? how important is major choice anyways, considering chicago has the core curriculum for the first fw years of undergrad?
I think Chicago admissions officers (and admissions officers at peer colleges) would tell you that major choice is completely unimportant, and they would probably mean it. I suspect it can have a tiny effect – it appears on your application, and if you choose to say something it functions as one more datum about who you are and what interests you. That will be mildly positive if it fits in with the rest of the story about yourself you (and your recommenders) are telling about yourself implicitly in your application, and somewhat negative if it causes confusion and makes it harder to understand who you are. For example, if you said you wanted to major in biology or biochemistry, and you had taken a lot of science courses and done science research in high school, that would be consistent and (very mildly) positive. But if all of your strengths in high school were in the humanities, and your recommenders were English and history teachers, saying you wanted to major in biology would be somewhat confusing and therefore (very mildly) negative.
About 20% of each class at Chicago winds up majoring in economics. They admit lots of kids with that interest. It would probably be more helpful to your admission chances if you were interested in Classics, or Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, but only if you had real background and demonstrated accomplishments in those fields. (The background and accomplishments would be very important; calling out the specific major would be a grace note.)
A final point: The Chicago core curriculum does not take up all of your available time your first year or any other year. If you look at the course catalog – and I recommend that everyone interested in a college and a specific field do that – you will see that you can probably get away with waiting until your second year to start taking economics courses, but it will be much easier to major in economics if you start taking courses in your first year, especially if you can’t place out of the introductory courses.
how would applying undecided affect my chances?
i have a few economics and business related activities, but i also have science related activities as well. But wouldnt applying for a more competitive or highly ranked major be more difficult, or is this not the case for chicago?
well you could say it’s a major choice
…ha
I think your best bet is to put down the major in which you’re most interested. In other words, don’t try to game the system.
Kids often ask us this same question when they are considering applying to universities that conduct admissions by school or program. (Cornell, Penn and Georgetown are examples)
And usually the advice echoes mine: be honest and apply to the school that interests you most. Or, in your case, list the major that interests you most.
I’m sure that, once in, UChicago will understand if you choose a different path. You won’t be the only one.
Regardless of which major you pursue, be ready to work.
In the rest of the world, and in some American universities, students apply to specific majors. At most of the more prestigious American private universities, very much including Chicago, you don’t apply to a specific major, and you don’t have a major when you enroll. You aren’t even allowed to declare a major until spring of your first year, and you are not required to have a major until a year after that.
Now, the admissions department isn’t likely to accept 2,000 students whose applications indicate no strong interest other than in economics. But there’s no hard quota on applicants who may become economics majors, and no mechanism (yet) to limit the number of students choosing economics as a major. And since biology and some of its variants together are almost as popular as economics, it doesn’t change things much to underline your interest in that.
I don’t think applying undecided hurts you at all.
^ Agree to alll the advise above. A lot of students change majors. My D was accepted last year with economics but she’s not 100 % sure and that’s a good thing. Part of a liberal arts education is exploring. She also only took 2 economics classes in high school. And had no economics extracurriculars. OTOH, my S went to a very pre professional university where you did apply to a major within a school.